The Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian ambassador to Vienna on Friday, following the arrest of a retired Austrian Army colonel who allegedly spied for Moscow for more than two decades.

The United States have not managed to reach desired relations with Russia so far, because Washington still has to combat Moscow’s “malign activity”, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated in an interview with the NBC channel, quotes from which were published on Saturday.

Amid the US pressures to limit the scope of Iran’s activities in Syria and its attempts to convince Russia to play a role in this regard, Moscow once again calls Iran’s presence in Syria lawful and legitimate.

US President Donald Trump set tongues wagging when he admitted he could potentially “consider” lifting sanctions on Russia if Moscow ever makes concessions and does something “good” for Washington on issues like Syria and Ukraine.

The abrupt deterioration in relations between Greece and Russia has intensified after Athens publicly accused Moscow of attempting to bribe state officials and meddle in the country’s internal affairs.

The discipline of NATO does not let the alliance’s members to strongly pressure London to release proof on Salisbury incident which would back its accusations against Moscow, Russian Ambassador the United Kingdom Alexander Yakovenko said.

On Monday, the Russian ambassador to Israel, Anatoly Viktorov, said that his country would try to persuade Iran to remove its forces from Syria “but Moscow cannot force that on Iran.”On Monday, the Russian ambassador to Israel, Anatoly Viktorov, said that his country would try to persuade Iran to remove its forces from Syria “but Moscow cannot force that on Iran.”

The Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom on Tuesday urged London to provide Moscow with access to the materials of the Amesbury poisoning incident investigation, noting that UK authorities deliberately restrict communication of all victims of poisoning incidents with the outside world.

French President Emmanuel Macron will discuss Syria, Iran and Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin when they meet in Moscow on Sunday, the day of the soccer World Cup final between France and Croatia, a source at the French president’s office said.

Amid reports that the United States and Israel are trying to persuade Moscow to end its partnership with Iran in Syria, a high-ranking Iranian official who is in Moscow to hold talks with the Russian officials talks about the continuation of coordination with Moscow and Damascus to fight the terrorists.

One week ahead of the planned summit between the presidents of Russia and the United States, Israeli pressures to convince Moscow to cut its partnership with Tehran have increased. Meanwhile, a top aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader is in Russia to deliver an important message to the Russians on bilateral ties.

The Russian Defence Ministry on Wednesday accused the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of strengthening combat forces near Russia’s border and warned that Moscow will take mirror-like actions against NATO’s moves.